Tim McGraw Honors Tug McGraw On A Special Day
Tim McGraw never misses a chance to honor his father, baseball legend Tug McGraw, and he did just that when he posted on Instagram this week, marking what would have been Tug’s 79th birthday. McGraw captioned the sweet post, which included a photo of himself and his dad, “My dad would’ve been 79 today. Happy birthday, Tugger!! #yagottabelieve.”
Tim’s dad passed away in 2004. McGraw didn’t know that Tug was his father until he was eleven years old. Tug didn’t even acknowledge that he was his son until he was seventeen.
Tim writes about it in Esquire Magazine, where he talks about his daughters, his wife, his career, and his late father. The younger McGraw said, “People ask me, ‘How could you have a relationship with your father? You were growing up in nothing. He was a millionaire baseball player. He knew you were there, and he didn’t do anything.'”
Tim adds, “But when I found out Tug McGraw was my dad, it gave me something in my little town in Louisiana, something that I would have never reached for. How could I ever be angry?”
Tug McGraw recorded the final out of the 1980 World Series against the Kansas City Royals, striking out Willie Wilson to bring the Philadelphia Phillies their first World Series championship, ending the Phillies’ 77-year drought.
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McGraw released his new album, Standing Room Only, last week (8/25). As he told us, he’s been working on the project for a while now. He said, “This album I’ve been working on, gosh, since COVID was going on. I had been collecting songs for a while, found some great songs that had a lot of meaning, a lot of depth to them.”
McGraw says of the new work, “I think as an artist, if you’re not improving, if you’re not thinking you’re getting better every time you make a record, then maybe it’s time to quit. I think as an artist, if you’re not improving, if you’re not thinking you’re getting better every time you make a record, then maybe it’s time to quit. I think this record has some of the most emotional songs, some of the most thought-provoking songs, and life-affirming songs that I’ve ever recorded. I’m excited for everyone to hear ’em because I just really think this is one of the best projects we’ve ever made.”
Five Things Tim McGraw Told Me Over The Years
2016 - Tim talked about the joy of being a country artist
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images“I love bein’ an artist, and I love bein’ an artist who can call these guys and be able to sing with great people like that. To be able to do that, be in a place in your career where you can call somebody, and they’ll sing with you. I mean Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, [I get to] play guitar with my wife, and have people say, ‘Yeah, I’ll sing a song with you.’ How cool is that? It’s like I’m bein’ a kid, you know, to ask your favorite artist to be able to sing with you, and they will.”
2015 - Tim talked about how songs affect him
Sarah Crabill/Getty Images“I sort of open myself up to some sort of visceral attack. I think that when you hear a song, it has to affect you, and usually right away, I know if it’s gonna affect me or not. If it doesn’t move me in some sort of way, it can be a physical chill bump reaction, or it can be somethin’ that sort chokes you a bit, or it could be somethin’ that makes you smile or somethin’ that makes you feel happy, make you roll the window down. All those things, somethin’ has to happen, and if somethin’ doesn’t happen, then there’s no need listenin’ to it anymore.”
2020 - How the pandemic affected him
Kevin Winter/Getty Images“You find more meaning in things for sure. Music is at the top of my list for stuff that’s sort of soul food for your heart and for your soul and something that makes that can connect people in a lot of different ways. Music has always been there for me. That’s been my sort of best friend. All throughout my life.”
2020 - McGraw on his mom reacting to dropping out of college to pursue music
Michael Buckner/Getty Images“I knew how hard she how bad she wanted me to go to college. And I was in pre-law. I was going to go to law school and do all that stuff. And it was a pretty good student coming out of high school. I knew how badly she wanted me to do that. And I remember calling her and getting up the nerve to call her, to tell her that I was going to quit college and move to Nashville. And it took me a while to do that. And when I told her. She just said, ‘I’m surprised you hadn’t done it already.’ And that was her way of just telling me, go do it.”
